Homophobes in the Church? Irish Archbishop says 'maybe'

Published: 12 February 2014

The Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, said it is possible that some in the Catholic Church might be homophobic and that the teaching of the Church could be used 'in a homophobic way', reports Vatican Insider.

The Archbishop’s comments were made in the context of a debate which began last autumn in Ireland, when the Minister of Justice, Alan Shatter, announced the government’s decision to hold a referendum on some proposed amendments to the Constitution which would legalise same-sex unions. The Cameron government has already approved a bill to legalise same-sex unions.

The Bishop of Kildare-Leighlin, Denis Nulty, who is also a member of the National Executive of Accord Catholic Marriage Care Service, stated that 'the Catholic Church will continue to hold that the differences between a man and woman are not accidental to marriage but fundamental to it and that children have a natural right to a mother and a father and that this is the best environment for them where possible.'

But last week, Archbishop Martin opened up to the possibility of such unions, stating that the teaching of the Catholic Church which favours the institution of marriage between a man and a woman, does not in principle exclude the possibility of same-sex couples of celebrating their union under a different type of contract.

Archbishop Martin did not hide his concern about the debate had already got off to a bad start, the RTÉ network writes. 'Debates on issues like this have to be carried out in a mature way so that people can freely express their views while at the same time being respectful and not causing offence.'